According to Rapoport, contract talks regarding Wagner and Wilson do affect one another, as the Seahawks will only be able to use their franchise tag on one of the two players.

If Seattle is able to lock up one of the two players in the coming months, it would go a long ways toward keeping their young nucleus in place for the foreseeable future.

Wagner mentioned close to a month ago that he had yet to hear from the team regarding a new contract. However, it appears as though things have changed now that they have a better idea of the kind of contract Wilson is looking for.

Wagner, 24, is entering the final year of his four-year, $4.307 million rookie contract that included a base salary of $977,427 for the 2015 season.

Given how young Wagner is and how important he’s been to the Seahawks’ defense, it would not be surprising to see him get close to setting a new record for the inside linebacker position in terms of salary in his next contract.

In 2014, Wagner appeared in 11 games for the Seahawks and recorded 104 tackles, two sacks, and three pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has Wagner rated as the No. 5 inside linebacker in the league out of 60 qualifying players.